Sodium: what lowering it actually does to blood pressure and to death rates

Sodium is the nutrient where the argument is not about whether it raises blood pressure, which it does, but about how much good cutting it does for people who are otherwise well. The honest answer is that it depends heavily on who you are and where you start.

How much you need

• The Daily Value for sodium on a food label is 2,300 mg a day. — adults and children 4 years and older Evidence E source
• Two slices of ordinary white bread carry about a ninth of the daily sodium limit, and a single bowl of chicken noodle soup carries more than a quarter of it. — white bread, chicken noodle soup, cheese pizza topping Evidence E source
• British and American white bread differ by about a tenth in sodium, and British toast reads higher than British bread, because toasting removes water, not salt. — white bread Evidence E source
• Sodium is the one nutrient here where the reference value is a ceiling rather than a floor, and about two thirds of American adults are above it, men far more often than women. — US adults aged 19 and over, by sex and age band Evidence E source

How well your body absorbs it

• The USDA retention table answers the wrong question for sodium: it measures only the sodium already in the food, while cooking mostly adds sodium rather than removing it. — all food groups and cooking methods in the table Evidence E source

What too little does

• Nine days of a low-salt diet dropped endurance athletes' blood sodium by about 3 mmol/L before they even started exercising, and their heart rate and core temperature ran higher through a three-hour ride in the heat. — endurance-trained men Evidence B source
• Muscle cramp is the sign people most often blame on low salt, yet an electrolyte drink shifted the cramp threshold in cramp-prone people by less than one hertz and prevented cramping in nobody. — euhydrated, cramp-prone adults; the beverage carried 840 mg sodium, 320 mg potassium and 5 mg magnesium against 35 mg sodium in placebo Evidence B source
• Genuinely low blood sodium is a clinical finding, not a diet complaint: in eating disorders, where it is expected, about one person in eight has it. — individuals with an eating disorder, mostly young women, in 20 studies Evidence C source
• The same trials show sharp sodium restriction is not free: renin, aldosterone, noradrenalin, cholesterol and triglycerides all rise measurably. — participants in trials of low-sodium versus high-sodium diets that measured hormones or lipids; between 15 and 82 trials per outcome Evidence A source

Who is most likely to fall short

• In people with diabetes, eating less salt for four to twelve weeks lowered systolic pressure by about 6 mm Hg, and the effect did not depend on whether their pressure was high to begin with. — people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes; 99 with type 1 and 214 with type 2, mostly with normal kidney function Evidence A source

What the evidence does and does not show

• Replacing ordinary salt with a potassium-based substitute cut deaths from any cause by 12 per cent across six trials in 27,710 people. — adults, mostly older or at higher cardiovascular risk, mostly in China and Taiwan Evidence A source
• Put in absolute terms, salt substitutes prevented about 12 deaths per 1,000 people and had almost no effect on stroke. — adults across cardiovascular risk strata Evidence A source
• The authors of the salt substitute review say plainly that the evidence rests on one large trial in one part of the world. — adults in 16 randomised trials, 7 of 8 outcome trials in China or Taiwan Evidence A source
• The DASH diet, built around cutting sodium and raising potassium, calcium, magnesium and fibre, has never been shown to prevent heart attacks or strokes, because the trials were too small and too short to tell. — generally healthy adults without diagnosed cardiovascular disease, 5 trials in the USA and Poland Evidence A source
• The same review found the DASH diet does lower blood pressure and improve most blood fats, which is the part the recommendation actually rests on. — adults in 5 randomised trials Evidence A source
• In chronic kidney disease a low-salt diet went with 28 per cent fewer kidney failure events, but showed nothing on deaths or cardiovascular events. — people with chronic kidney disease in 33 studies Evidence C source
• In long-term cohorts, the excess risk of developing hypertension starts around 3 grams of sodium a day against a 2-gram reference, and in the best-measured studies the risk rises straight through the whole range. — adults in 11 cohort studies with sodium measured by dietary intake or urinary excretion Evidence C source
• Pooling 133 randomised trials, cutting sodium lowered systolic pressure by 4.26 mm Hg, and every 50 mmol less sodium in the urine bought about another 1.1 mm Hg. — adults in 133 randomised trials, both with and without hypertension Evidence A source
• Real-world salt reduction programmes deliver far less than trials: across 36 studies of whole communities, workplaces and clinics, systolic pressure fell by only 2.6 mm Hg. — adults and children in communities, families, schools, workplaces and clinics across 36 studies, 30 of them in adults and 5 in children Evidence A source
• Salt sensitivity is not a fixed personal trait: the share of people whose blood pressure responds strongly to sodium rises from one in eight under 40 to more than half after 60. — adults across 160 studies, stratified by age, baseline systolic pressure and body mass index Evidence A source
• Put as the number of people who must cut salt to prevent one cardiovascular event, the benefit differs fifteenfold depending on who they are: about 87 older adults with high blood pressure, or about 1,334 young lean ones without it. — strata defined by age, systolic pressure and body mass index Evidence A source
• Averaged over everyone, the dose-response is modest and precise: about 1.76 mm Hg of systolic pressure per 50 mmol of sodium a day. — adults in 160 studies Evidence A source
• The mortality benefit of salt substitutes rests almost entirely on a single Chinese trial: take it out and the effect on deaths stops being statistically significant. — adults in 34 randomised trials across 15 countries, mean age 62.3; 17 trials from China and 17 from elsewhere Evidence A source

What too much does

• Across 56 systematic reviews, eating less sodium lowered systolic blood pressure by between 2 and 8.7 mmHg depending on the population. — adults across three cardiovascular risk strata, 56 reviews Evidence A source
• Cutting the salt in food is a food-industry problem with five distinct strategies, and taking salt out is only one of them. — food industry applications across processed food categories Evidence E source

What to do with this

Most of the sodium in a modern diet arrives before the food reaches your kitchen. Bread, processed meat, cheese, sauces, soups and ready meals carry the bulk of it, so the salt cellar is rarely the place where the difference is made.

Read the label rather than the front of the pack. The Daily Value is 2,300 mg a day, and a single ready meal can carry half of it.

Potassium-based salt substitutes are the intervention with the best mortality evidence in this field, and they carry a real caution. If you have kidney disease, or take an ACE inhibitor, an angiotensin receptor blocker or a potassium-sparing diuretic, a salt substitute is a question for your doctor rather than a swap to make quietly.

Taste adapts. Most people who cut salt gradually stop noticing within a few weeks, and the foods they used to eat start tasting oversalted.

Muscle cramp is the reason people give themselves permission to salt everything, and it does not survive testing. In people who cramp easily, an electrolyte drink shifted the cramp threshold by less than one hertz and prevented cramping in nobody. If you cramp, salt is the wrong lever to be pulling.

Genuinely low blood sodium is a clinical finding rather than a diet complaint. In eating disorders, where it is expected, about one person in eight has it. It is found on a blood test and treated by a doctor, and it is not something to read off how you feel after a low-salt day.

Endurance in heat is the one everyday setting where low salt bites. Nine days of a low-salt diet dropped athletes' blood sodium by about 3 mmol/L before they even started exercising, and their heart rate and core temperature ran higher through a three-hour ride in the heat. Long hard sessions in heat are their own situation. The rest of this page is written for an ordinary week.

If you have chronic kidney disease the calculation changes shape. A low-salt diet went with 28 per cent fewer kidney failure events in that group, and showed nothing at all on deaths or on cardiovascular events. That is a solid reason to take the advice seriously and an equally solid reason to expect it to do one specific thing.

If you have diabetes, this advice has been tested on you in particular. Across 13 randomised trials in 313 people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, the seven longest, running four to twelve weeks, lowered systolic pressure by 6.15 mmHg and diastolic by 3.41. The odd part is who it worked for. People who already had high blood pressure came down 6.45 mmHg and people whose pressure was normal came down 8.43, so the usual rule about your starting point did not hold here. Almost everyone in those trials had normal kidney function, so this is a separate question from the kidney paragraph above. The trials were small, at high risk of bias and rated low certainty, which makes the direction worth acting on and the exact figures worth holding loosely.

Salt sensitivity is not a fixed trait you either have or do not

The usual framing is that some people are salt sensitive and the rest are not, and that you would know which. Across 160 studies, it turns out to track with age and with the blood pressure you already have, and it changes over a lifetime.

Established. Under 40, the salt-sensitive pattern shows up in 12.5 per cent of people. At 60 and over it shows up in 56.5 per cent. Sorted by blood pressure instead of age, it is 16.3 per cent in people whose systolic pressure is below 120 and 54.1 per cent in people at 130 or above. Averaged over everybody, the relationship itself is modest and measured precisely: about 1.76 mm Hg of systolic pressure for every 50 mmol of sodium a day, with a confidence interval from 1.54 to 1.98.

The same advice is worth fifteen times more to some people than to others

The useful way to read that is in people rather than in millimetres. Count how many would have to cut their sodium to prevent one cardiovascular event, and the answer depends entirely on which group you pick.

Established. For people aged 60 or over, with systolic pressure at 130 or above and a body mass index of 25 or more, it takes about 87 of them. For people under 60 with systolic pressure below 130 and a body mass index under 25, it takes about 1,334. A fifteenfold gradient, from the same analysis, for the same advice.

Two things follow, and they point in opposite directions on purpose. If you are in the first group, cutting salt is one of the highest-value things available to you, and it is worth real effort. If you are in the second, it is a small good, and it does not deserve anxiety, guilt or a ruined dinner. Most public advice is written as though everyone were in the first group.

Not for everyone. Age and blood pressure are not the whole story, and nobody should read the second paragraph as permission to ignore salt entirely. Kidney disease, heart failure and some medicines change the calculation on their own, and the pressure you have at 35 is not the pressure you will have at 65. What the numbers argue against is fear, rather than against the advice.

What the salt substitute evidence actually rests on

Unsettled. Potassium-based salt substitutes look better than cutting salt alone. Thirty-four randomised trials across 15 countries were pooled. Substitutes with 25 to 40 per cent potassium chloride probably cut deaths from any cause and from cardiovascular disease, somewhere between 7 and 17 fewer deaths per 1,000 people. Systolic pressure came down about 4.4 to 4.6 mmHg. Then take one trial out. The mortality and cardiovascular benefits rest almost entirely on a single very large Chinese trial, and without it the effect on deaths is no longer statistically significant. Seventeen of the 34 trials came from China. The blood pressure effect is on firmer ground than the survival effect, and anyone quoting the survival figure at a Western reader is quoting one study.

Not for everyone. Salt substitutes put potassium in place of sodium, and that is a real drug interaction rather than a food swap. If your kidneys do not clear potassium well, or you take an ACE inhibitor, an ARB or a potassium-sparing diuretic, this product is one to ask about before buying rather than after.

Where the sodium actually is

Two thirds of American adults sit above the 2,300 mg ceiling, 77.8 per cent of men and 59.0 per cent of women, on a median intake of 2,884 mg a day. It peaks in the young, at 74.8 per cent of 19 to 30 year olds, and falls to 58.8 per cent past 70. This is the one number on this site where the reference value is a ceiling rather than a target.

Almost none of it is the salt cellar. Two slices of ordinary white bread carry about 252 mg, which is 11 per cent of the day's ceiling, from a food nobody thinks of as salty. One cup of chicken noodle soup is 608 mg, a quarter of the ceiling, and the canned version is 654 mg a cup. Bread and soup, before anything anyone would call salty food, and that is the reason cutting salt at the table changes less than people expect.

The British and American bread figures differ by about a tenth, 400 mg per 100 g against 450. One oddity in the British table is worth explaining, because it looks like a trick. Toasted white bread reads 490 mg per 100 g against 400 for the same bread untoasted. Toasting does not add salt. It drives off water, so what remains is packed into fewer grams.

Cooking will not save you here. The USDA retention table tracks how much of a nutrient survives cooking, and for sodium it is answering the wrong question, because cooking mostly adds sodium rather than taking it away. Where the table does show a loss it is leaching, simmered organ meats at 45 per cent and boiled drained pasta at 50, and that only applies to the sodium the food already held.

Which is why most of the work belongs to the people making the food. A review of how industry cuts sodium sorts the methods into five groups: taking salt out, replacing it, changing the flavour around it, changing what the salt was doing functionally, and changing the physical form of the product. Removal and replacement account for most of the work done so far, and the reviewers argue the other three are where the remaining progress is. Nothing in that list is something you do in your kitchen, and that is the point.

Where to get it from food

The bottom line

The label figure is 2,300 mg a day and most people in most countries eat more, mostly from processed food rather than from the salt cellar. Eating less lowers systolic blood pressure by between 2 and 9 mmHg depending on the population, with the largest effects in people who already have high blood pressure. Switching to a potassium-based salt substitute did more than that in trials: 12 fewer deaths per 1,000 people. That evidence comes almost entirely from one very large trial in China, and it does not transfer cleanly to a Western diet or to anyone whose kidneys cannot clear potassium. Two things usually missing from this advice belong in it. Cutting sodium sharply raises renin, aldosterone, noradrenalin, cholesterol and triglycerides, so a hard cut has a measurable price alongside the benefit. And in long-term cohorts the extra risk of developing high blood pressure starts around 3 grams of sodium a day against a 2-gram reference. In the best-measured studies it rises straight through the whole range, which is why the case for eating less is strongest for the people who eat most. How much good cutting salt does depends on who is doing it, and the size of that difference has now been measured. Across 160 studies, the share of people whose blood pressure responds strongly to sodium runs from 12.5 per cent under 40 to 56.5 per cent at 60 and over. Translated into the number of people who would have to cut their salt to prevent one cardiovascular event, it takes about 87 older adults with raised pressure and a higher body weight, against about 1,334 young lean adults whose pressure is normal. The same advice, fifteen times more useful to one group than the other. On salt substitutes, removing that one large Chinese trial from the pooled analysis leaves the effect on deaths no longer statistically significant.

Sources

1. na-01 · Position of an expert body · regulatory reference value
   2,300 mg (value from the source's table, not a sentence)
   FDA, Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels (updated 2024-03-05) · checked 2026-09-15 · independently re-checked
2. na-a-07 · Position of an expert body · reference dataset
   Bread, white · Sodium, Na 450 MG на 100 г [fdc_id 2707598] · 1 medium or regular slice 28 г 126.0 MG · 1 large or thick slice 43 г 193.5 MG || Soup, chicken noodle · Sodium, Na 248 MG на 100 г [fdc_id 2709149] · 1 cup 245 г 607.6 MG || Soup, chicken noodle, canned [2709148] · 1 cup 245 г 654.1 MG || Topping from cheese pizza · Sodium, Na 713 MG на 100 г [fdc_id 2705787] · Topping from 1 piece 40 г 285.2 MG
   USDA FNDDS 2021-2023 and 21 CFR 101.9(c)(8)(iv) · checked 2026-09-21 · independently re-checked
3. na-a-08 · Position of an expert body · reference dataset
   CoFID 11-1145 Bread, white, average — Sodium (mg) 400 · CoFID 11-979 Bread, white, premium — Sodium (mg) 400 · CoFID 11-980 Bread, white, sliced — Sodium (mg) 400 · CoFID 11-1001 Bread, white, toasted — Sodium (mg) 490 · FNDDS 2707598 Bread, white — Sodium, Na 450 MG на 100 г
   CoFID 2021 (Public Health England, OGL v3.0) and USDA FNDDS 2021-2023 · checked 2026-09-21 · independently re-checked
4. na-a-09 · Position of an expert body · national dietary survey
   sodium_mg · усі 19+ n=4886 median 2884 mean 3206.19 p95 6248 · ч 19+ median 3361 · ж 19+ median 2555 · Daily Value FDA (не EAR) = 2300.0 CEILING: усі 19+ 68.1% · ч 19+ 77.8% · ж 19+ 59.0% · усі 19-30 74.8% · усі 71+ 58.8%
   NHANES 2021-2023 (DR1TOT/DEMO), weighted; Daily Value from 21 CFR 101.9 · checked 2026-09-21 · independently re-checked
5. na-a-06 · Position of an expert body · reference dataset
   sodium_mg фактори по 269 рядках: 100.0 — 164 · 95.0 — 30 · 90.0 — 18 · 85.0 — 12 · 80.0 — 9 · 75.0 — 5 · 70.0 — 13 · 65.0 — 5 · 60.0 — 2 · 55.0 — 7 · 50.0 — 2 · 45.0 — 2 · LIVER,SIMMERED,WO/DRIPPINGS — 45.0 · PASTA,BOILED,DRAINED — 50.0
   USDA Table of Nutrient Retention Factors, Release 6 (2007) · checked 2026-09-21 · independently re-checked
6. na-t9 · Randomised controlled trial(s) · randomised crossover trial
   Plasma [Na+ ] was lower on lowNa before (137 ± 2, 140 ± 3, P = 0.007) and throughout exercise (P = 0.001). Sweat [Na+ ] was unaffected by diet (54.5 ± 40, 54.5 ± 23 mmol/L, P = 0.99). Heart rate and core temperature were higher on lowNa (P ≤ 0.001).
   McCubbin et al., Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports, 2017 · checked 2026-09-17 · independently re-checked
7. na-t10 · Randomised controlled trial(s) · randomised crossover trial
   TF was greater in EB (14.86 ± 7.47 Hz) than PB (14.00 ± 5.03 Hz; P = .038) and reported pain was lower in EB (2.0 ± 0.6) than PB (2.7 ± 0.8; P = .025) while EMG was similar (P = .646).
   Lau et al., Muscle and Nerve, 2019 · checked 2026-09-17 · independently re-checked
8. na-t11 · Observational data · systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies
   The results from the meta-analyses showed (1) that individuals with eating disorders had significantly higher odds of experiencing electrolyte abnormalities compared to controls (OR = 3.20, 95% CI:1.48-6.94), and (2) varying pooled prevalences of abnormalities, including hypokalemia (15%), hyponatremia (13%), and hypophosphatemia (17%), across studies.
   Kwok et al., PLoS One, 2026 · checked 2026-09-17 · independently re-checked
9. na-r3-02 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · Cochrane systematic review and meta-analysis
   During sodium reduction renin increased 1.56 ng/mL/hour (95%CI:1.39, 1.73) in 2904 participants (82 trials); aldosterone increased 104 pg/mL (95%CI:88.4,119.7) in 2506 participants (66 trials); noradrenalin increased 62.3 pg/mL: (95%CI: 41.9, 82.8) in 878 participants (35 trials); adrenalin increased 7.55 pg/mL (95%CI: 0.85, 14.26) in 331 participants (15 trials); cholesterol increased 5.19 mg/dL (95%CI:2.1, 8.3) in 917 participants (27 trials); triglyceride increased 7.10 mg/dL (95%CI: 3.1,11.1) in 712 participants (20 trials)
   Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2020 · checked 2026-09-17 · independently re-checked
10. na-bp3 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · Cochrane systematic review and meta-analysis
    In long-term studies, reduced sodium intake may lower systolic BP (SBP) by 6.15 mm Hg (7 studies: 95% CI -9.27 to -3.03; I² = 12%), diastolic BP (DBP) by 3.41 mm Hg (7 studies: 95% CI -5.56 to -1.27; I² = 41%)...In hypertensive participants, SBP, DBP and MAP may be reduced by 6.45, 3.15 and 4.88 mm Hg, respectively, while in normotensive participants, they may be reduced by 8.43, 2.95 and 2.15 mm Hg, respectively (all low certainty evidence).
    McMahon et al., Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2023 · checked 2026-09-17 · independently re-checked
11. na-t2 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review and meta-analysis
    In this population, salt substitute may reduce risk for all-cause mortality (6 RCTs; 27 710 participants; rate ratio [RR], 0.88 [95% CI, 0.82 to 0.93]; low certainty) and cardiovascular mortality (4 RCTs; 25 050 participants; RR, 0.83 [CI, 0.73 to 0.95]; low certainty).
    Yin et al., Annals of Internal Medicine, 2024 · checked 2026-09-16 · independently re-checked
12. na-t3 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · umbrella review of systematic reviews
    Salt substitutes conferred a small but important reduction in all-cause and cardiovascular mortality [ARR 12 fewer per 1000; 9 fewer per 1000; respectively], and had little to no effect on the risk of stroke [ARR 1 fewer per 1000].
    Alderman et al., Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 2025 · checked 2026-09-16 · independently re-checked
13. na-t4 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review and meta-analysis
    LIMITATIONS: The evidence base is dominated by a single, large RCT.
    Yin et al., Annals of Internal Medicine, 2024 · checked 2026-09-16 · independently re-checked
14. na-t5 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · Cochrane systematic review and meta-analysis
    The effect of the DASH diet on major cardiovascular outcomes - including myocardial infarction, stroke, cardiovascular mortality, and all-cause mortality - remains inconclusive due to a lack of robust long-term evidence.
    Muñoz-Pérez et al., Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2025 · checked 2026-09-16 · independently re-checked
15. na-t6 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · Cochrane systematic review and meta-analysis
    While the DASH diet may reduce blood pressure, total cholesterol, and triglyceride levels while increasing high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol compared to no intervention or usual care, it appears to have little to no effect on low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol.
    Muñoz-Pérez et al., Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2025 · checked 2026-09-16 · independently re-checked
16. na-t12 · Observational data · systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised trials and cohort studies
    A low-salt diet produced a 28% reduction in renal composite outcome events (RR: 0.72; 95% CI: 0.58 to 0.89). No significant effects were found in terms of changes in proteinuria (SMD: -0.71; 95% CI: -1.66 to 0.24), rate of eGFR (decline MD: 1.16; 95% CI: -2.02 to 4.33), risk of all-cause mortality (RR: 0.92; 95% CI: 0.58 to 1.46) and CV events (RR: 1.01; 95% CI: 0.46 to 2.22).
    Hu et al., BMJ Open, 2022 · checked 2026-09-17 · extracted
17. na-r3-06 · Observational data · dose-response meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies
    Dose-response analysis of available cohort studies (n = 11), using a dietary intake or urinary sodium excretion of 2 g/day as the reference category, showed an excess risk starting at 3 g/day. However, we found a linear relationship across the entire range of sodium exposure in an analysis restricted to studies that used 24 h urinary sodium excretion information and had a low risk of bias.
    Current Hypertension Reports, 2022 · checked 2026-09-17 · independently re-checked
18. na-bp1 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised trials
    The mean reductions (reduced sodium v usual sodium) of 24 hour urinary sodium, systolic blood pressure (SBP), and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were 130 mmol (95% confidence interval 115 to 145, P<0.001), 4.26 mm Hg (3.62 to 4.89, P<0.001), and 2.07 mm Hg (1.67 to 2.48, P<0.001), respectively. Each 50 mmol reduction in 24 hour sodium excretion was associated with a 1.10 mm Hg (0.66 to 1.54; P<0.001) reduction in SBP and a 0.33 mm Hg (0.04 to 0.63; P=0.03) reduction in DBP.
    Huang et al., BMJ, 2020 · checked 2026-09-17 · independently re-checked
19. na-bp5 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review and meta-analysis
    The population-based sodium reduction interventions decreased office systolic BP (SBP) compared with usual care in 36 studies (MD: -2.64 mmHg [95% confidence interval: -3.48- to 1.80]), with evidence of heterogeneity.
    Hypertension Research, 2025 · checked 2026-09-17 · independently re-checked
20. na-a-01 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review and meta-regression
    Salt-sensitive phenotype prevalence rose from 12.5% (age <40 years) to 56.5% (≥60 years) and from 16.3% (SBP <120 mm Hg) to 54.1% (≥130 mm Hg).
    Hypertension, 2026 · checked 2026-09-21 · independently re-checked
21. na-a-02 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review and meta-regression with risk translation
    Under a policy-relevant 100-mmol/d sodium reduction, number needed to restrict ranged from ≈1334 in younger, normotensive, lean individuals (age <60 years, SBP <130 mm Hg, and body mass index <25 kg/m2) to ≈87 in older adults with hypertension and elevated body mass index (age ≥60 years, SBP ≥130 mm Hg, and body mass index ≥25 kg/m2), a 15-fold gradient.
    Hypertension, 2026 · checked 2026-09-21 · independently re-checked
22. na-a-03 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review and meta-regression
    We included 160 studies (255 estimates; n=16 443). Each 50-mmol/d higher urinary sodium excretion was associated with 1.76-mm Hg higher SBP (95% CI, 1.54-1.98).
    Hypertension, 2026 · checked 2026-09-21 · independently re-checked
23. na-a-04 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review and network meta-analysis
    Mortality and cardiovascular benefits are predominantly driven by one large Chinese trial (SSaSS, n = 20,995); excluding this trial eliminated statistical significance for all-cause mortality. Among non-Chinese studies, none contributed mortality data.
    BMC Medicine, 2026 · checked 2026-09-21 · independently re-checked
24. na-t1 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · umbrella review of systematic reviews
    In various cardiovascular risk populations, moderate to high certainty evidence suggested that lower sodium intake reduced systolic blood pressure (BP) by -8.69 to -2.00 mmHg, and had concordant but smaller effects on diastolic BP.
    Alderman et al., Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 2025 · checked 2026-09-16 · independently re-checked
25. na-a-05 · Position of an expert body · scoping review
    Sodium reduction methods were categorized as either salt removal, salt replacement, flavor modification, functional modification, or physical modification.
    Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, 2022 · checked 2026-09-21 · independently re-checked